Monday, 31 October 2016

Here are some bright new makes inspired by the colourful autumn days and the woodland walks we have been enjoying.........there have been lots of mushrooms and toadstools this year, both in the garden and in the countryside.............the red spotted ones have been a favourite motif of mine since college days...........

.............i made two little pincushions which may be given as gifts soon...........

..........and a needle book which i might keep :)...............i used some of a sweet minny muu charm pack from lecien fabrics, some pam kitty morning fabric too, and some matching felt and ribbon from my crafty stash.....

..............i put little pockets in the inside of the back and front covers so i can add small sewing items to take with me on an outing..........when the ribbon is tied the whole thing is secure..........

...............the flower was from a child's hair ornament.....i often see inexpensive decorative things on my travels and know they will be useful one day for my makes so into the crafty stash they go.............

............the back pocket with the quick unpick or seam ripper...such a handy little gadget sometimes ;) .........i might make some more of these needle books as gifts and fill them with stitching treats.......

....................here is a close up of the pink pincushion..........i added a piece of decorated ribbon to the seam, as i always like to do.....

.................and here is the yellow pincushion, with a piece of liberty binding to decorate it......you can see the back of each pincushion in the top image.........i added small patches with tiny toadstools on them from tasha noel fabrics.......

................we had a lovely woodland walk at the weekend.........wonderfully atmospheric autumn weather made it a pleasure to be outdoors......mild and fresh and the air filled with leaves and mushroomy scents..............below is the lane we walk up to the woods and common, just a few minutes from our home........i always love to see this little cottage..............

..............here is a picture i took at the edge of the woods, of bright berries and greenery and a few autumn leaves............the ivy is plentiful and reminding me it will soon be the festive season...........

..............after our walk it was home for a nice cup of tea and a piece of teabread.....this was made from mary berry's recipe borrowdale teabread and it is delicious sliced and spread with butter...........

..............i love autumn more each year and want to make the most of each day while it lasts....

..............thank you for dropping by dear readers and a special thank you to everyone who takes the time to leave me a lovely comment....so kind of you and so appreciated.............wishing you a wonderful week ahead with cosy times and crafty inspirations.............back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Monday, 24 October 2016

We have been enjoying some wonderful autumn days over the past week......filled with warm colours, misty mornings and golden afternoons and that special nostalgic autumn atmosphere.....

..............i am busy working on some magazine commissions, and hand quilting two quilts......so i decided to make a quick little project as a change..........this little pumpkin house uses the basic house pattern in my book *pretty patchwork gifts*............if you wish you can add any embellishments or appliques to personalise your own little house :).........

................these beautiful yellow lilies and white and yellow roses were a lovely gift from my dear younger daughter..........they have lasted ages and i have put them in several different vases and containers....

...........the little pumpkin house was sewn from a piece of my cross stitch linen, with some pretty lecien fabric for the roof and the pumpkin and a tiny bit of tilda floral for the door......the ribbon is from clothkits...........i love making these scrappy little houses and it is always fun to make a new one with the latest fabrics in my scrappy pile.....

..............i embroidered a few details too......the twirling vines at the top of the pumpkin were fun to stitch..........i added a tiny button to the door......

...............this week i got out the autumn blanket again and we are loving its warm cosiness and bright colours....i made this a couple of years ago inspired by the bright autumn shades of an indian summer week in the lake district....the sky was blue every day and there was an abundance of berries, fruit and gorgeously coloured leaves....we had never seen the normally rather subdued lake district looking so colourful :) .....

.............flowers in the tomato vase..........

.............all the actual tomatoes have been used up now....cooked and eaten and enjoyed...

..................next it will be time for pumpkin soup and pumpkin pie.........and i bought the ingredients for gingerbread and tea loaf too so lots of baking planned here now the chilly weather has arrived.....

..............my kind husband cleaned out the greenhouse at the weekend ready for me to put my plants back in for the winter, and to plant lots of bulbs too...and later on seeds......

...............and my next homely job is sorting out my books....this might well take all winter.....these penguin books have been with me since my school days........we have hundreds of books upstairs on our top floor and i want to get them in order and dispose of some of them too.......not so easy when you are bookworm like me.........i begin to sort them and then dip in and start reading ;) ........

................off to whip up a fruit tea bread now and to sew one of my quilts while it bakes......

................thank you for dropping by dear readers, and how lovely to have such sweet comments from so many of you......it is good to see lots of old friends (and new!)..............wishing you all a wonderful week ahead with bright sunny days, crafty times and warm, cosy evenings..................back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Monday, 17 October 2016

Lots of making has been going on here over the past week as i have had quite a few deadlines to meet......at the weekend i picked up my rather neglected v stitch crochet blanket and had a bit of cosy crochet time......we have had chilly mornings and evenings which meant putting the heating on and lighting the fire again sometimes.....

.............the last of the tomatoes here reminding me of traffic light lollipops.....

...............and another block for my modern vintage flowery wreath quilt...........

...............i am just beginning to stitch around the applique here with matching embroidery thread....

.............lots of lovely bright berries from our garden and purple daisies from my daughter's as michaelmas daisies just won't grow for me for some reason......

..............we went to the farm and bought a pumpkin ready for halloween....just got to carve it now ;)........below is my little tea tray with a recent crafts beautiful project applique cloth on it......

...............below is part of my festive project for the crafts beautiful christmas special available now and you can find out more here.........

................besides making, stitching and crochet i have been planting bulbs ready to enjoy next spring........i have put lots in the ground and am going to plant up quite a few in pots and keep them in the greenhouse for even earlier bulb displays............looking forward to those already......

............the next block for my wreath quilt is applied and ready for sewing......i love making the same block but varying the fabrics used........the pam kitty garden one below is one of my favourites.....

...............one more sweet daisy with some festive fabrics in the background....more about these soon as i am planning a cheery christmas quilt this week.....

..............time for a cup of tea now and then back to work at my computer......

.................thank you for dropping by lovely readers and for the kind comments you leave me....it is such a pleasure to hear from readers old and new and i do try and visit you too if i can :)........wishing you all a happy week ahead enjoying the cosy season (or the fresh new spring of course if you live on the other side of the world).....hope you have plenty of sunny days, cheerful flowers and crafty inspirations.................back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Monday, 10 October 2016

Last week autumn arrived properly here...........i was holding on to summer for as long as i could though :)..........but now there is no denying the season has changed so i am enjoying all it brings.....

............i love these cosy times...........i've been hand quilting my trip around the world quilt and enjoying the warmth it brings......and was so pleased to see buckets of bright autumn dahlias outside the greengrocer's shop.....i bought a few bunches which are now brightening up my kitchen....

............my work for the world of magazines is all about springtime at the moment as we always work a few months ahead but i am used to that after doing it for many years.....a few warm and cosy colours are appearing in the fabric piles here though........i am sewing blocks for my st ives quilt and above and below are some paper pieced ones being made for it............

...........which will be mixed in with lots of applique ones too......i am so enjoying making this quilt and choosing what to stitch next.......reading the old quilt books is very inspiring and i have got lots of ideas from antique quilt blocks which look surprisingly modern when re made in current fabrics.....

...............every year in autumn i make a new pumpkin or two to add to my collection......

..............this time i made a white linen pumpkin from some of my cross stitch linen......i used the pumpkin pattern from my book *modern vintage gifts*........but instead of making a felt stalk for this pumpkin i gathered some sticks from the garden to use instead...........

...............and then i made a couple more with different shades of linen............

.................this one is made from some of the new tilda cabbage rose fabric......love the little bunnies on it.....

.............the fire has been lit in our sitting room, and the candles too...........we are getting into nesting mode in the evenings again......though the bright days mean lots of gardening and bulb planting for us at this time of year............here are some snippets from the autumn garden ready to make some decorations.....

............a little garland being made with berries and other autumn finds.....

..............and a last picture of my favourite dahlias from this week..........

.............thank you so much for dropping by to visit me here dear readers.......it is always a pleasure to hear from you too........(you can also catch up with me during the week on facebook as well if you'd like to see me there)..............wishing you all a wonderful week filled with crafty inspirations, cosy times and autumn flowers.........back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

my new book

about me

I am a designer, author, illustrator, stitcher and I just love crafting and making things. I live on the North West coast of England with my lovely husband. My family mean the world to me - I have two amazing grown up daughters and three sweet grandchildren - two boys and a girl.